Genius Warlock-Episode 669
669. darkest moment (3)
The world was getting smaller.
In reality, it wasn't physically getting smaller, but the world was getting smaller..
The reason is the advancement of magic and science. And it was in the Industrial Revolution.
With the development of magic and science, railways, airships, and space movement magic were developed, which led to rapid advancement in transportation, and the productive power of industrialization spread it throughout the world..
Thanks to this, the size of the world was the same as before, but in reality it was as if it had become smaller..
And the effect was obvious.
People's living space has increased incomparably compared to the past, making it possible to easily travel from city to city in a day, and travel, which was once the exclusive domain of a few, can now be enjoyed by more people..
As evidence, every Sunday, people went to the countryside or the lakeside to enjoy picnics and swimming..
Where is that? Unlike in the past when it took a week just to hear news from the neighborhood next door, now it is possible to hear news from around the world in less than a day..
Therefore, Landa was able to immediately hear the news that Dave, a woodcutter who followed the Chugi priest across the sea, was going to subdue the Pied Piper..
Naturally, this was huge news..
very, very great news.
Why not??
He has an open dual identity as Landa's best solver and the wizard of the Magic Tower. In addition, the person who earned the title of hero who saved Landa was fighting with his entire body the Pied Piper who made even the nation tremble with fear..
And that was not long after the Pied Piper invaded Landa..
This was not strange news at all that Landa, who had barely regained her stability, was shaken again..
Because Solver Dave and Magic Tower wizard Zenon is currently a very influential person..
Even though he put on a little makeup, it is a clear fact that he saved the prince and the city of Landa all by himself..
Thanks to this, Landa became noisy again..
Not only the ruling class of Landa, such as city council members, capitalists, wizards, and businessmen, but also the lower classes such as workers, solvers, warlocks, and the poor..
It wasn't strange.
For those who are poor but have pride in Landa, they felt somehow superior just by living in the same city as Dave (or Zeno)..
That's why I can talk about Dave for no reason..
However, unlike the lower classes, the city's ruling class treated this issue with more seriousness..
Unlike the lower class, for them, who had a lot and had a lot to protect, the collision between Dave and the Pied Piper was a kind of car accident..
A major accident that calls for an emergency meeting.
Among them, the representative organizations were the city council and M Tower..
Although each form is different, they are directly connected to Dave..
The proof is that the city and the Magic Tower are collaborating to provide full support to the creation of the Bright School, which specializes in black magic..
However, Dave followed the Chugi priest and suddenly declared with his own mouth that he would defeat the Pied Piper..
I repeat, this was great news..
If Dave were to be killed by the Pied Piper, it was impossible to predict what would happen to the security of the city and the prestige of the Magic Tower, which were stabilized by putting him in charge..
Even if it was the other way around, it was a problem..
It was unlikely, but if Zeno had defeated the Pied Piper, it would have been a disaster..
It was a story about Landa having to deal with the monster that defeated the Pied Piper, the monster of monsters..
The moment such a picture was drawn, a question arose in the minds of those in charge of Landa..
The fundamental question of whether we can truly handle the entity that defeated the Pied Piper?.
The answer came sooner than expected.
‘Not possible. If managing it means just letting them live here, it's possible, but if it means using force to subdue them, that's impossible..’
‘It has already been revealed that even Landa's power cannot help the Pied Piper. If Dave the Woodcutter has defeated the Pied Piper, it follows naturally that he can't handle it either..’
‘No, it's more dangerous. The Pied Piper ended up alone because of his evil deeds, but Dave the Woodcutter already had his own power. Moreover, its influence in Gallos is increasing. What do you think will happen if he defeats the Pied Piper, a legend in the warlock world??
’Are you saying that all the warlocks scattered like cockroaches are uniting around him??’
‘okay.’
‘no way····. Should that be so??’
‘That's what overwhelming power is! Don't think too hard. Since Landa is wealthy, it is similar to attracting rich people and corporations. Overwhelming power attracts power.’
‘hmm····. The good news is that Dave doesn't have that kind of ambition.?’
‘Sounds crazy! ···Even if you have no will, will those around you remain silent? It's not the tree's fault that the branches are shaking, it's the wind. What more... Is it sane to leave the fate of this city to the favor of one individual??’
‘So, what should we do??’
‘Isn't it true? The only being in this city that can stand against such a being is.’
‘no way····?’
‘exactly. Archive. let's call him.’
‘Isn't he focused on patching up the cracks in the city right now? ····I told you not to call me until the work was done..’
‘The situation is tolerable right now. After all, Dave is his disciple. Maybe he expected something like this.’
The city council members all agreed in silence. Everyone was cautious about what they said, so they didn't bring it up, but they were aware of it..
Dave is a student of the archive.
Still, the reason I didn’t bring up that fact was-
‘-Above all, he is also responsible for this situation. Aren't you the one who built Landa on top of the apocalypse in the first place, Landa's true owner? He is also a party to this problem..’
***
It was like that..
It was known that Landa, which was built on top of a catastrophe decades ago, was founded by the joint efforts of many wealthy people and wizards with a challenging spirit, but like everything else in the world, it was far from reality..
It is true that they joined forces, but the archive was at the center of it all..
To be precise, it is the ancestral archive of the ancestral ancestor, who is the grand father of the current archive..
In a way, it was a natural story..
The power of the archive was essential to erase the traces of the great disaster and build the city..
The reason most people don't know this is because the archives at the time were completely hidden from view..
The only people who know this are some high-ranking people in the Magic Tower, including city council members, and some big capitalists..
But they didn't care about this at all.
The archive, which contributed most to the establishment of Landa and greatly helped its subsequent growth, actually exercised its rights very rarely..
Therefore, city council members, big capitalists, and a few magicians were able to think of this city as their own despite the existence of the archive, and by the same token, they could think of calling the archive to ask what was happening and what to do about it..
Of course, the city council's plan failed before it could be implemented..
Immediately after the news of Zenon Bright's battle with the Pied Piper was delivered, a large army invaded from under Landa..
An army made of corpses.
The fingers of the black hand. It was an invasion of puppets.
***
“Fuck! support!! support!!”
An unusually sunny day in Landa, a city known for its gloomy weather..
At the main defense facility responsible for the defense of Landa, a soldier urgently requested assistance..
The reason for the request was that zombies armed with the latest military weapons were pouring out of the sewers and attacking major defense facilities..
However, the Landa Defense Force and the Security Bureau failed to respond appropriately..
This is because zombies whose scale was difficult to discern were pouring out from all over the sewers under the city..
As a result, each of Landa's defense forces was isolated, unable to help each other, and was busy dealing with the pouring zombie hordes..
And this was the same for other organizations that possessed military force, such as Magic Tower, mercenary companies, and crime firms, in addition to the National Guard..
As if they were fully aware of the internal situation, zombie armies and corpse dolls simultaneously attacked each organization's main facilities without a single error..
Merlin, who was sealing the hellish rift in the city, saw this invasion and couldn't help but be surprised..
For the record, I was not surprised by the scale of the invasion..
Archiver Merlin already knew that the puppet had this level of power..
The puppet has the power to fight not only the city but also the country..
At first glance, it may have sounded like a nonsense story, but if you think about it, it was rather obvious..
Puppets have been around for hundreds of years. More precisely, it was a being that survived from the birth of black magic until now..
That meant that Puppet's personal history transcended not only the city but also the country..
If a being with a firm goal worked hard consistently over a long period of time, overthrowing the country was not an entirely absurd story..
The reason why Merlin, who knew this fact, was surprised was that none other than Puppet wielded that power..
No matter how strong a force is, if you wield it, there will be a reaction. That was the rule of the world..
Of course, Puppet was not unaware of this fact either. No, she knew better than anyone else. That's why he hid this power for hundreds of years..
But then he suddenly revealed his power..
Extreme actions that reduce one's options.
Merlin guessed the intention behind the act..
At first, I thought they were trying to take advantage of the hellish rift that appeared in Landa..
Because we confirmed that the invoice doll was actually trying to access the crack..
“Huh... But how did you get here??”
Area W. The puppet asked from above a broken welfare center located there..
There were injured and dead bodies everywhere due to the zombie army's attack and the puppet attack..
Merlin, who had just arrived, answered..
“It's so obvious... It occurred to me that if you were really aiming for a rift, you would have approached it in a different way. Above all, there was no way such a reckless invasion would be carried out..”
Rumbling!!!
Just as Merlin finished speaking, a huge bolt of lightning struck from afar, covering the sunny sky..
It was the lightning of Thomas Nielsen, Merlin's classmate and original master of the Mjolnir School..
Just now, with that one bolt of lightning, the corpse dolls in the sky and the zombie army on the ground all turned to ashes, but just as quickly as that, another bolt of lightning struck..
Puppet's corpse doll appeared across multiple spaces and struck down lightning..
Through his magic sensing ability, Merlin confirmed that Thomas was injured..
“well····. I don't think I'm particularly reckless, do I? It's like scolding a child who is under the illusion that they are the best..”
“······.”
“I've already captured five One Masters and three Grand Masters. Archive, how about going to save the Magic Tower first??”
“If you allow me to take this person, I will gladly accept..”
Merlin pointed to the old man sitting on his back..
The old man is Cant, the director of the Poor Brothers Welfare Center, and even though he was attacked by the puppet, he did not get scared and instead showed concentration. He focused on the conversation between Merlin and Puppet..
Puppet rejected Merlin's offer..
“I'm sorry, but that's going to be difficult. I have business to attend to..”
“This is why I removed the shackles of the Pied Piper.?”
“Is that really true? I'm not that reckless..”
“So, why did you do this crazy thing? You really don't know what you're doing.?”
Merlin said with anger..
A sight that has rarely been seen since it became an archive. That's how angry he was about the puppet's actions..
No way, you're aiming for that cant.
If you don't know anything, you can do that, but if you know enough to know, you can't do this. He couldn't help but be angry..
“Let's just say it's desperate. If he broke his promise to the Pied Piper, he can't break his promise to me either. Because we need new safety devices..”
“New safety device? It must be a noose around your neck..”
“The inexplicable end is coming anyway, so what's the use of that? I just make the choice I think is best.”
At the same time as the puppet answered, the air around Merlin and Cant distorted, and a number of corpse puppets emerged from them..
There were corpse dolls with beards and bare clothes like beggars, others wearing fancy suits, and others dressed in military uniforms and foreign clothing..
Different corpse dolls, each with their own distinct personality. What they had in common was that they each held a book in their hands..
“archive······.”
Cant was quietly shocked as he saw the corpse doll appear out of thin air..
Cant's experience leading an intelligence organization called the Poor Brothers informed him that all of the corpse dolls that have now appeared are archives..
“alone·····.”
“entire·····.”
“afford it·····.”
“myself·····.”
“Do you have?”
The puppet borrowed the mouth of the corpse doll-archive and spoke one word at a time to create a sentence..
I even felt a strange discomfort, as if I was dealing with something similar to a person..
Unusual air. Merlin, who had been silent, opened her mouth..
“You know what. puppet,”
“······?”
“I once thought I was a genius. A genius who will forever remain in history.”
“····I admit it. Because I saw you too. As a child, you had already surpassed the adult wizards, and in your youth, you had unified the five elemental schools through your personal magic and knowledge. You are one of the greatest geniuses I have ever seen in hundreds of years..”
“That's right. So I thought I could do anything. I had the right to do that, and I believed it would help the world. With that belief alone, I ended up doing something I shouldn't do as a human being..”
Merlin remembered his past sins..
“Huh... You're talking like that's not the case anymore..”
“That's right. Ironically, after becoming an archive, which was my goal, I realized that was wrong..”
“Why did you want to become an archive??”
“I wanted to know everything. It was to become the most superior... But all I knew was my foolishness and sin..”
“I don't know what you mean.”
“Maybe that's the difference between you and us.”
“······.”
“Anyway, the only thing I learned from becoming an archive is that I am stupid. But there's one fact that doesn't change.”
“what?”
“The fact that I am the greatest archiver of all time.”
As soon as Merlin finished speaking, a vast amount of magic power that distorted the air with its mere presence erupted from his aged body..
The broken building shook with just that magic power, but surprisingly, that ferocious magic power protected Cant so naturally, like a living creature..
Once Cant's safety was secured, Merlin tried to move immediately.-
-!
At that moment, an unusual energy was felt across the sea..
Danger signals that only archives can sense.
The puppet must have felt this too and smiled..
“I guess·····.”
“The end·····.”
“earlier·····.”
“I think it came to visit·····.”
“first·····.”
“From over there·····.”
“Shouldn't I go??”
The corpse doll aiming for Cant spoke word by word..
Sharp energies surrounded Cant from all directions and targeted him. Merlin was silent..
At that time, Cant, who was quietly watching the conversation between Merlin and Puppet, asked in a calm voice:.
“·····Is it about Oliver??”
Merlin was silent again..
“go.”
Cant interpreted the silence as positive and asked Merlin a favor..
“Don't worry about me, just go. to that child.”
“·····It's not that simple. If you have a problem, you never know what will happen later..”
“If you don't go now, there's no telling what will happen right away..”
Puppet joins Merlin and Cant's conversation..
It wasn't wrong, but Merlin still hesitated..
If I made a mistake, I might lose the means to prevent the apocalypse later. he couldn't do it himself.
Merlin thought about taking Cant with him somehow, but the archives in front of him caught his eye..
Great wizards and sinners representing each era.
Merlin was confident that he could defeat them, but it was difficult to guarantee in an urgent situation. Especially in situations where you have something to protect..
At a time when such fleeting yet eternal worries persisted, I heard a familiar voice..
“You worked hard, leave.”
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